Walmart

koda55 wrote:
If I remember correctly the Walmart in Elkins is about 12 miles west of I77. It is very hilly to get there. We stayed there one night. They have you park at the other end of the parking lot away from the store. There are a couple places to eat also.

You might be thinking of another Elkins, maybe West Virginia. This Wally is right off the exit of I-77. I called them today and they were very welcoming and happy to have RV'ers stop and spend the night.
We have done this many times before and we only stop to eat and sleep and never put out our slides. We've seen some real "campgrounds" set up in Walmart's with rv's parked around each other with slides out and folding chairs and grills set up. Talk about taking advantage of a good thing! Don't do something that gives the rv'ers a bad image.

Joining the fray:
We are always on the lookout for a place to stay for little or no money when we are on the move. Walmart is most suitable and several have areas set aside for RVs usually near the store on the side by the car service area. Little traffic there overnight. We are Elks so that is an option and Bass Pro and Cabellas have welcomed us and our shopping dollars more than once. I would think a Police Station would be dire emergency only as an option, although very safe.

There is a subscription website http://www.overnightrvparking.com/index.php that has the most uptodate listing of available WalMarts and other free parking.

I try to park near an edge so I can open the bedroom slide for comfort.

Every time we have stayed at a Walmart there has always been security riding around. No matter where you stay there is always the possibility to be trouble. We have never had trouble wherever we have stayed.

Sez Hoo! wrote:


IMHO Walmart is not a free place to park. You will almost all the time go in to buy something. Also the problem with parking at Walmart or most other private business is that you have no idea what kind of riff-raff comes wondering through the parking lot when you are sleeping. My wife and I stay at truckstops. True you still don't know who is wondering the parking lot. But you can be mostly assured that its just a trucker stopping for the night or just passing through. Either way they are not in there to make trouble. Also someone would be completely out of their minds to go into a truckstop looking for trouble. Pure suicide!! As for noise, it gives us reassurance that people are moving around out there that also keeps the riff-raff out. They're usually looking for an easy target parked off by themselves in a quiet parking lot.

Lets see, I have heard of more than one shooting in campgrounds, and as a retired over the road truck driver, I have seen all kinds of nut cases in truckstops. Some who would would just as soon slit your throat as look at you. I'm sorry, but truck drivers are not the Knights of the Highway that they use to be. I consider a truck stop way more dangerous than any Walmart parking lot. In fact, I value my motorhome to highly to take it into a truckstop and park among the big rigs. My son had the whole front fender ripped off his parked Peterbilt, and the "trucker" who did it just kept going.

Mike M2 wrote:

Sez Hoo! wrote:

free radical wrote:
Alegedly the original founder of WM was an RVer so he allowed or encouraged travelers to park overnight,,good busines decision imho

The original founder of Walmart also used to sell Made in USA only too!

` My wife and I stay at truckstops. True you still don't know who is wondering the parking lot. But you can be mostly assured that its just a trucker stopping for the night or just passing through.

Or a passing hooker....

Hey, hey now.............

they are called LOT LIZARDS !!

:E :p


Markiemark:C

Sez Hoo! wrote:

free radical wrote:
Alegedly the original founder of WM was an RVer so he allowed or encouraged travelers to park overnight,,good busines decision imho

The original founder of Walmart also used to sell Made in USA only too!

` My wife and I stay at truckstops. True you still don't know who is wondering the parking lot. But you can be mostly assured that its just a trucker stopping for the night or just passing through.

Or a passing hooker....

free radical wrote:
Alegedly the original founder of WM was an RVer so he allowed or encouraged travelers to park overnight,,good busines decision imho

The original founder of Walmart also used to sell Made in USA only too!

IMHO Walmart is not a free place to park. You will almost all the time go in to buy something. Also the problem with parking at Walmart or most other private business is that you have no idea what kind of riff-raff comes wondering through the parking lot when you are sleeping. My wife and I stay at truckstops. True you still don't know who is wondering the parking lot. But you can be mostly assured that its just a trucker stopping for the night or just passing through. Either way they are not in there to make trouble. Also someone would be completely out of their minds to go into a truckstop looking for trouble. Pure suicide!! As for noise, it gives us reassurance that people are moving around out there that also keeps the riff-raff out. They're usually looking for an easy target parked off by themselves in a quiet parking lot.

If I remember correctly the Walmart in Elkins is about 12 miles west of I77. It is very hilly to get there. We stayed there one night. They have you park at the other end of the parking lot away from the store. There are a couple places to eat also.

My wife and I have done about 180,000 miles back and forth across the country staying mostly in Walmart lots hundreds of times over 16 years. We have been booted exactly once in all that time, from Homestead, Fl. Their security guard apologized and gave us directions to a nearby Publix that allowed overnight parking.

One other time a Las Vegas area Walmart security guard suggested that we move to a different store ten miles away because his store "had a lot of crime".

We love Walmart!!

appd221 wrote:
Sorry to be a little off topic, but what are the rules to stopping in a Walmart or Kmart parking lot? Can one stop at any? Being new to the RV world I just started to hear about this.

Alegedly the original founder of WM was an RVer so he allowed or encouraged travelers to park overnight,,good busines decision imho